Rep. Loretta Sanchez Hit By GOP Rival For Suggesting 'Vietnamese' Are Trying To Take Her Seat

California Assemblyman Van Tran, a Republican running to unseat U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the Golden State's 47th district, is taking aim at the Democratic incumbent for suggesting last week that "the Vietnamese and the Republicans" are out to defeat her in her reelection fight.

Tran, a Vietnamese American, called the remarks "offensive" and "divisive" in an interview with the Los Angeles Times published over the weekend. The congressional hopeful said that the choice of words reflected a "racial rampage."

In the wake of sparking controversy, Sanchez came out and said that she didn't mean to offend anyone with her remarks. The AP reports:

Sanchez said Friday she "used a poor choice of words that some people have taken as offensive" in a Spanish-language interview with Jorge Ramos on Univision's Sunday morning show, "Al Punto." She said she apologizes if she offended anyone.

She also referred to her opponent, Republican Assemblyman Van Tran, as "very anti-immigrant and very anti-Hispanic," in the interview.

"Her attack against immigrants and the Vietnamese community on national television is shocking," Tran campaign manager George Andrews said in a blog entry posted on his boss's campaign website. "The 47th congressional district belongs to the people and not an individual ethnicity."